SUPERIOR, Colo. – Just one week after closing on their home, the Marshall Fire destroyed the Camacho family’s house in Superior’s Sagamore neighborhood.
“We rented the house and really enjoyed living here," said Roberto Camacho. "So in November, our landlord told us that he was planning on selling the property as soon as the lease was up. We said we wanted to buy it. We essentially closed on the house on the 22nd of December, so one week before it burned down."
He and his family were out of town when coworkers told him the Marshall Fire was getting close to his house.
“I immediately went to my doorbell camera to see what was going on. I could see the smoke,” Camacho said. “I told my wife, 'I think we're in trouble. Like, this looks very bad.' And then I think at some point, the power went off and then afterwards, I feel like that was the moment I felt like everything was gone … I just wept on the floor for a while.”
Camacho says days later, he received more bad news. His family’s home was underinsured.
“We were underinsured by at least $100,000 or more, so we're trying to figure out what to do,” he said. “We're interviewing builders to see who can rebuild our house, that's our main focus. But we need to understand what we can do about being underinsured just one week after buying the house.”
Camacho says one of the hardest parts of losing his home is explaining the situation to his 7-year-old son. To help his son understand, he used his son’s favorite movie, Disney’s "Encanto," a story about an extraordinary family in danger of losing their magical home.
“In the movie the house crumbles … that was kind of my way of explaining it to him, that even though our house is gone, we can rebuild it … with the support of the whole community,” Camacho said.
He says the community has been very supportive and has contributed to their family’s GoFundMe. Even though they aren’t sure how or when, the Camacho family is determined to rebuild their home in Superior.
From housing to food banks and everything else in between, there are many ways people affected by the Marshall Fire can get help — and how you can help. Click here for more.
